Tickets for Ravinia's summer music lineup available at 5 a.m. Tuesday

Bob Dylan has long cited the Staple Singers as a musical inspiration, and Dylan once asked Mavis Staples to marry him. Now the master songwriter and the gospel great are joining forces June 24 as part of Ravinia’s summer concert series. Public on-sale begins at 5 a.m. April 26.

The pairing, which finds Dylan playing Ravinia for the first time since 1964, is among the 140 performances announced Wednesday. More than half of those will be first-time sets at the venue on its 80th anniversary, and the shake-up makes for one of Ravinia's more intriguing pop lineups in recent memory. It's brimming with '60s and '70s stars, from Chic to Jeff Beck.

One of Dylan's songwriting contemporaries, Paul Simon, had never played Ravinia, but that will change June 18 when he headlines the Highland Park venue. Another '60s icon, Diana Ross, also is a Ravinia newbie. The former Supremes vocalist will perform July 27.

Other first-time performers include a reunion June 12 of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the eternally suave Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music fame on Aug. 6, Duran Duran and a retooled Chic led by Nile Rodgers on July 8-9, the Alice Cooper-Joe Perry-Johnny Depp supergroup Hollywood Vampires on July 17, country innovator Marty Stuart with Billy Bob Thornton on Sept. 2, Barenaked Ladies and OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) on June 9, and the Commodores on June 23.

Buddy Guy will celebrate his 80th birthday a day late with one of his fans, Jeff Beck, on July 31. Who wouldn't want to see Guy and Beck trade solos on "Let Me Love You, Baby," as they did at the White House a few years ago?

Collaboration also seems likely when Lyle Lovett and his Large Band are joined by Emmylou Harris on July 18. Bonnie Raitt rolls through with her veteran touring band Sept. 3, and Don Henley doubles up on the back of his latest solo album, the country-tinged "Cass County," on Aug. 14-15. Expect Henley to play some Eagles hits in tribute to his late bandmate, Glenn Frey.

Among the most compelling events: Chick Corea with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (July 4); the American premiere of Wynton Marsalis' Violin Concerto (July 12); Tony Bennett's 90th...

(Howard Reich)

Among a handful of tribute concerts, Warren Haynes will pair June 26 with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra to give a symphonic sweep to the music of the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia. This might not sound particularly promising, but Haynes is a versatile guitarist who has worked in myriad contexts. He's got the chops to pull it off.

Garrison Keillor's farewell tour as host of public radio staple "A Prairie Home Companion" arrives June 11 with Keillor and his successor, Chris Thile of Nickel Creek and the Punch Brothers.

As usual, the pop/rock lineup has only a handful of artists who emerged in recent decades, including O.A.R. on Sept. 4, Train on Aug. 26-27, Seal on Aug. 28 and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell on July 3.

A version of this article appeared in print on March 02, 2016, in the Arts + Entertainment section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Feels like the first time - Paul Simon, Diana Ross to make debuts at Ravinia - RAVINIA 2016" —
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